I. Howard Marshall

This work is not a history of New Testament times, nor an account of New Testament religion. Nor does it proceed from a view that the New Testament was written as theology. We must bear in mind that the writers of the New Testament books were not writing set theological pieces. They were concerned with the needs of the churches for which they wrote. Those churches already had the Old Testament, but these new writings became in time the most significant part of the Scriptures of the believing community. As such, they should be studied in their own right, and these questions should be asked: What do these writings mean? What is the theology they express or imply? What is of permanent validity in them? We read these writings across a barrier of many centuries and from a standpoint of a very different culture. We make every effort to allow for this, but we never succeed perfectly. In this book I am trying hard to find out what the New Testament authors meant, and this not as an academic exercise, but as the necessary prelude to our understanding of what their writings mean for us today. - Introduction.

Suggests what is meant by the historical Jesus and how we can study his life.

This is a very controversial subject which disturbs many people. It is the contention of the author that there is biblical truth in both the Calvinistic and the Arminian position concerning this volatile subject, and that each camp should candidly recognize the value of the other's positions. John Wesley once wrote, "The truth of the gospel is within a hairsbreadth of Calvinism." Quite a concession for the chief spokesman of Arminianism! Dr. Howard I. Marshall echoes the contention of Wesley, and then goes even beyond it. "The full Arminian position is as much open to error as is extreme Calvinism. My aim is to reach beyond the Calvinist-Arminian controversy to a position which is biblical." - Back cover.

Readers will find an introduction that discusses the letter's form, authorship, destination and primary theological themes, followed by a passage-by-passage commentary that always seeks to answer the question of what the text means for us today as well as what it meant for its original hearers. --from publisher description.